Greenville, SC – Four-time defending Conference Carolinas men's cross country champion, UNC Pembroke has been picked as the favorite in the 2026 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll.

The Braves received 10 first place votes and 200 points to land on top of the poll ahead of Young Harris College's 191 points and four first place votes. Southern Wesleyan University and Converse University both finished with 172 points to tie for third. Lees-McRae College's 149 points land the Bobcats in fifth while North Greenville University received 146 points, including the final first place vote, to take the sixth spot.

Belmont Abbey College comes in seventh with 140 points, followed by the University of Mount Olive's 119 points in eighth. Barton College (102) and Emmanuel University (98) rounded out the top 10.

King University (85), Erskine College (73), Ferrum College (62), Francis Marion (46) and Chowan University (26) concluded the poll.

Southern Wesleyan took third place in the Conference Carolinas Championship last year and had four runners advance to the regional race.  The Warriors will look to the senior leadership of Spartanburg Methodist transfer Ryan Hunter for the 2026 season.  Hunter will be joined by several freshman runners including Braeden Caldwell and Mayson Harward, who were both listed as runners to watch.

The Warriors will kick-off the regular season on September 4 as they travel over to Spartanburg, SC to take part in the Eyeopener XC Invite hosted by USC Upstate.  They will then host their home race, the Susan Rouse Invite, on September 19.  Southern Wesleyan will hit the road for three more races before traveling to Kernersville, NC to compete in the Conference Carolinas Championship on November 7.

The 2026 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Championship will take place on Friday, November 7 at 10:15 a.m. at Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head coaches and they can't vote for their own school.